Okay, first off- I realize that Sony might not make the best stuff (but it can't be THAT bad), but I would like some help. See, my Husband might just work for Sony, and might just have a seriously silly discount... and it occurred to me this morning that Sony makes car audio stuff... well, so here I am.

And ideas on my shopping list? Speakers first? Receiver? Admittedly I'll probably have it all put in somewhere local if my Husband rolls his eyes, but he did do a schweet job on his ex '77 Land Cruiser.

Any help you all could give me would be schweet- because the CrutchField site wasn't that helpful at all! :?

Thanks!

Chrissy

Chrissy:

Mighty sweet Element you've got there. Identical to my Lucy in fact. :wink:

Although Sony isn't deemed 'the best' by car audio enthusiasts, they make very respectable products. And that sweet Sony discount makes it that much more attractive. :)

If you have a Best Buy near, they have Sony products there for you to hear see and touch. I did exactly that. The system-tester song was Clapton's 'Cocaine" and I played it through several systems. On a few, you couldn't tell the snare drum from the bass - it was all crummy and mushy. On the Sony XPlod speakers I heard, run through a Sony head unit, everything sounded very crisp, separated and clear.

Use Google and trip around to several different car audio sites besides Crutchfield. You will find a few where ordinary people write about their impressions of different systems.

Good luck and don't forget to come back tell us what you got. And post pictures!

You might check out this link if you already haven't...

http://elementownersclub.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2649

If you are going to buy Sony, you should check out there Mobile ES products, I used to have a Sony ES cd player a few years ago and it was a really nice deck. Now I know they are pushing this "EXplod" line now, hopefully they still have a higher end line like ES.

chrissybelle,
I put all Sony in my Element, and it's been good to me.
I bought the DX with no audio, so just having music quickly (and relatively cheaply) was the imperative.
I put Xplod 2-ways in the front and back doors, and an Xplod flipping face plate cd-player. pictures are on another thread. Oh and a Bazooka self-amped bass tube in the way back.
I know the purists will roll their eyes at my set-up, but all my cash went to the car. eventually I'm going to do the whole cross-over amp-ed stuff just like Emass preaches. for the front doors and tweeters, at least. For now though, it sounds good to me!

[quote:ac3478924b="chrissybelle"]Okay, first off- I realize that Sony might not make the best stuff (but it can't be THAT bad)[/quote:ac3478924b]

[quote:ac3478924b="TheLusciousHellcat"]Although Sony isn't deemed 'the best' by car audio enthusiasts[/quote:ac3478924b]

[quote:ac3478924b="hunterbase"]I know the purists will roll their eyes at my set-up... eventually I'm going to do the whole cross-over amp-ed stuff just like Emass preaches.[/quote:ac3478924b]
I certainly hope I don't come off as preachy. Please, please, please, don't let my personal preferences for car audio gear discourage anyone from asking questions, sharing info or buying these brands. Please take my opinion with a grain of salt.

Sony and other mainstream audio gear is not bad at all if your expectations are set correctly. I'm really passionate about car audio and I've heard a lot of different brands so my expectations are much higher than the average person.

Please share pics when you get your gear! Good luck!

eMass, i wouldn't worry about offending anyone if I were you.

There's a reason you are Moderator of this board; you're the man who knows stuff. So keep preaching the gospel of good sound, and we'll keep listening.

:) Don't worry - I'm totally not upset about the Sony comment. Most of our stuff is Sony, because we get the best discount! None of our computer equiptment is though.
Keith and I went into Best Buy (as suggested by a post-er) and found out that up grading our EX was a bit expensive. Apparently, the entire car has to be re-wired to accept a non-factory system. This applies to just new speakers as well. So, we have given up on this and are on to other projects. Thanks for all your advice!

You certainly don't need to re-wire the entire car just for new speakers! All you need is an adaptor that just snaps onto the factory speaker clip at each speaker. No brainer!

http://pix.crutchfield.com/products/2002/120/l12071012-F_dg.jpeg

Even the install bay at Circuit City should be able to pull that one off. :D

Even the install bay at Circuit City should be able to pull that one off.

Ummmm yep Circuit City handled all of my installs....no problems what so ever! They will be upgrading my head unit later this week (Thanks for the recommendation Boneheadz on the head unit!)